Shechen Rabjam

Shechen Rabjam

Born in 1966, Shechen Rabjam is an accomplished Tibetan Buddhist teacher. The grandson and spiritual heir of the great twentieth-century meditation master Dilgo Khyentse, Rabjam is the abbot of Shechen monasteries in Nepal and India, supervises the Shechen Orgyan Chozong Nunnery in Bhutan, and leads various humanitarian aid projects in Tibet, Nepal, and India.

Shechen Rabjam

Born in 1966, Shechen Rabjam is an accomplished Tibetan Buddhist teacher. The grandson and spiritual heir of the great twentieth-century meditation master Dilgo Khyentse, Rabjam is the abbot of Shechen monasteries in Nepal and India, supervises the Shechen Orgyan Chozong Nunnery in Bhutan, and leads various humanitarian aid projects in Tibet, Nepal, and India.

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GUIDES

Rabjam Rinpoche in US September and October 2023: A Reader's Guide

Rabjam Rinpoche in US September - October 2023

Rabjam Rinpoche

Rabjam Rinpoche will be offering teachings and empowerments in New York, Montana, and Colorado in September and October 2023. Below you will find reading recommendations to complement these special teachings and empowerments.

New York
September 30-October 4

Montana
October 6-11

Colorado
October 13-15, Lojong Teachings

October 19: Empowerments of Dilgo Khyentse's special lineage of Ladrub Tigle Gyachen and Mindroling Vajrasattva

October 21: Rabjam Rinpoche Bestowing The Sadhana Of Mahamudra Abhisheka

October 22nd: Rabjam Rinpoche Bestowing Guhyagarbha And White Manjushri Abhishekas

The Great Medicine That Conquers Clinging to the Notion of Reality: Steps in Meditation on the Enlightened Mind

Rinpoche's main book is his commentary on the works of the previous Shechen Gyaltsap.  In these inspiring teachings on how to open the heart, a contemporary Tibetan Buddhist master shows us how to change our self-centered attitude and develop concern for the well-being of others. He teaches that when we acknowledge our own wish for happiness, we realize that all beings wish for the same. With a broader perspective, we can develop the strength to extend gratitude and kindness first to those we love, and eventually to everyone.

In his warm and informal style, Rabjam offers accessible Buddhist teachings that will appeal to anyone who would like to find more meaning in life. Based on classical Tibetan teachings, his commentary is fresh, humorous, and sharply insightful. Here is a modern Tibetan teacher who appreciates the challenges of living in today’s world. The Great Medicine will help contemporary readers draw on ancient teachings to find their way to wisdom, freedom, and joy amid the struggles of real life.

Tibetan Buddhism, Dilgo Khyentse

The Works of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Many of the teachings and empowerments come through Rabjam Rinpoche's grandfather the great Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

Visit our guide to Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche's works, nearly twenty of which are available in English, here.

Shechen Gyaltsap Gyurme Pema Namgyal

Shechen Gyaltsap is one of the main figures in the lineage held by Rabjam Rinpoche.  He recently gave the reading transmisiion to his works to many thousands.

Visit our guide to the works of Shechen Gyaltsap Gyurme Pema Namgyal.

Rinpoche will be teaching on his grandfather's famous commentary, Enlightened Courage, on this essential teacing of mind training, or lojong.  Participants may benefit from having read it prior to the teaching.

The Sadhana of Mahamudra

On October 21st in Boulder, Rinpoche will bestow the abhisheka for the Sadhana of Mahamudra.  

Included in Volume Five of the Collected Works of Chogyam Trungpa are excerpts from The Sadhana of Mahamudra, the tantric text that Chögyam Trungpa received as terma in Bhutan in 1968.  This is followed by ‘‘Joining Energy and Space,’’ an article based on some of the teachings that he subsequently gave to his students about the significance of the sadhana. The Sadhana of Mahamudra brings together the ultimate teachings from two great Tibetan spiritual lineages: the dzogchen, or maha ati, teachings of the Nyingma and the mahamudra teachings of the Kagyu.

The Guhyagarbha is the essential tantra of the Nyingma tradition in particular, along with Longchenpa's commentary.

Note, thisbook is a restricted title, but receiving the empowerment Rinpoche is offering in Boulder will fulfill the requirement (see the book page for details).  This can only be purchased from this website, it is not available in stores or online.

Note - this expected to be back in stock in September 2023.  If you order it now, it will ship as soon as it arrives from the printer.

The Guhyagarbha Tantra

$150.00 - Hardcover

By: Lama Chonam & Longchenpa & Sangye Khandro

A Guide to the Guhyagarbha Tantra

We have created a spearate resource guide to the Guhyagarbha tantra and the many books related to it.  We encourage you to take a look.

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Shechen Gyaltsap: A Guide for Readers

The Life of Shechen Gyaltsap Pema Gyurme Namgyal (1871-1926)

Shechen Gyaltsap was the disciple and heart-son of Mipham Rinpoche, one of the most prominent Nyingma scholars of the late 19th and early 20th century. He studied with some of the greatest Nyingma teachers including Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and Jamgon Lodro Thaye. He has written many extensive commentaries including an annotated commentary of Zurchungpa's Testament and Chariot to Freedom--a detailed commentary on the Vajrayana preliminary practices (ngondro).

In addition, Shechen Gyaltsap was the principle teacher of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, the root teacher of many of today's great teachers including Rabjam Rinpoche, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, as well as the French Buddhist monk, Matthieu Ricard.

All phenomena remain in the expanse

Of beginningless time;

Since this is the case,

All sentient beings can achieve nirvana

— by Shechen Gyaltsap Pema Namgyal, from The Great Medicine

Shechen Gyaltsap Pema Gyurme Namgyal is often referred to as the Fourth.  However, as noted in Practicing the Great Perfection:

The numbering of the incarnations in the Shechen Gyaltsap lineage is somewhat complicated. The first in line was a master known as Aja Lama Drupwang Pema Gyaltsen. His incarnation, Pema Sangak Tendzin Chögyal was referred to as Shechen Gyaltsap, the “regent of Shechen,” in the sense that he was the regent or representative of the previous incarnation. The name “Gyaltsap” therefore begins only with the second incarnation and cannot, logically speaking, be applied retrospectively to the first. As the incarnation of the second Gyaltsap, Orgyen Rangjung Dorje, Gyurmé Pema Namgyal is consequently counted as the third Shechen Gyaltsap, even though he is the fourth in the incarnation line.

In Journey to Enlightenment, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche recalls his teacher Shechen Gyaltsap with the following:

"Generally speaking, my teacher Shechen Gyaltsap appeared to genuinely possess all the qualifications of a master that are taught in the sutras and tantras, and he was especially grounded in the experience of the highest view of the Great Perfection as it is. Subsequently, when I studied, reflected, and pretended to teach these aspects, I felt that having the good fortune to actually receive such a golden doctrine like a wish-fulfilling gem from my precious master, the perfect Buddha, made gaining a human birth worthwhile, and I felt even more devoted and inspired than usual.

Even nowadays, while pretending to teach these aspects, I keep my precious master in mind and feign to invoke him to make the exposition and study meaningful. While he was giving empowerments, I was often overwhelmed by the splendor and magnificence of his expression and his eyes as, with a gesture pointing in my direction, he introduced the nature of mind. I felt that, apart from my own feeble devotion that made me see the teacher as an ordinary man, this was in fact exactly the same as the great Guru Padmasambhava himself giving empowerments to the twenty-five disciples. My confidence grew stronger and stronger, and when again he would gaze and point at me, asking “What is the nature of mind?,” I would think with great devotion, “This is truly a great yogi who can see the absolute nature of reality!” and I began to understand myself how to meditate.

On my next visit to Shechen, I received ordination as a novice monk from Gyaltsap Rinpoche. Khenpo Shenga had already given me these vows once, but I told Gyaltsap Rinpoche that I would like to receive them again from him. He replied that it was legitimate to receive vows twice, just as a stupa can be embellished with several layers of gold."

Latest Releases

A Chariot to Freedom: Guidance from the Great Masters on the Vajrayana Preliminary Practices

While less well known compared to Patrul Rinpoche's Words of My Perfect Teacher, Shechen Gyaltsap's A Chariot to Freedom, is a highly respected set of teachings intended for the practice of ngöndro.  As it is not specific to a single lineage, it is univerally applicable no matter which ngondro one is engaged with, and universally beloved throughout Tibet.

According to the Buddhist tradition, one can only make progress with a mind that is properly directed toward enlightenment. Included in his teachings on the 'four thoughts that turn the mind,' Shechen Gyaltsap gives a clear introduction to the importance of appreciating one's precious human life, considering on the reality of impermanence and eventual death, understanding the role of karma, and reflecting on the defects of samsara or cyclic existence. Furthermore, he offers guidance and encouragement for completing the 5 x 1000,000 states of the uncommon preliminaries.*

According to the tradition, the ngöndro (translated literally as 'before going') is completed in order to accumulate the appropriate qualities of mind, such as mental calm, clarity, renunciation, and devotion, in order to continue along the Vajrayana path.

*The 'uncommon preliminaries' includes the accumulation of 100,000 recitations of refuge with prostrations, 100,000 recitations of the bodhichitta prayer, 100,000 vajrasattva mantra, 100,000 mandala offerings, and 1,000,000 vajra guru mantras.

 

Practicing the Great Perfection: Instructions on the Crucial Points

A set of essential works on Dzogchen by Shechen Gyaltsap. Included here are essential instructions for those who practice, or aspire to practice, the teachings of the Great Perfection. Written with a clear simplicity that belies their profundity, these teachings give practical and pointed advice on how to meditate on the nature of mind, self-arisen primordial wisdom, and how to sustain this practice in daily life. They begin with an extensive reflection on the problem of self-clinging and the analytical meditation designed to uproot it, and proceed to more specific instructions for the mind practice itself, at all times insisting on the fundamental, indispensable attitudes of renunciation and bodhichitta—the determination to awaken for the benefit of all beings.

The translators' introduction, filled with wonderful stories, also gives extensive and fascinating background to Shechen Gyaltsap's life and works.

Advice for Awakening on the Vajrayana Path

"Generally speaking, my teacher Shechen Gyaltsap appeared to genuinely possess all the qualifications of a master that are taught in the sutras and tantras, and he was especially grounded in the experience of the highest view of the Great Perfection as it is. Subsequently, when I studied, reflected, and pretended to teach these aspects, I felt that having the good fortune to actually receive such a golden doctrine like a wish-fulfilling gem from my precious master, the perfect Buddha, made gaining a human birth worthwhile, and I felt even more devoted and inspired than usual."

-Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

A Practice of Padmasambhava: Essential Instructions on the Path to Awakening
by Shechen Gyaltsap, Rinchen Dargye and translated by Dharmachakra Translation Committee

A Practice of Padmasambhava presents two practical and compelling works related to a visualization and mantra practice of Padmasambhava. This practice is based on the most important revelation of the renowned nineteenth-century treasure revealer Chokgyur Lingpa, Accomplishing the Guru's Mind: Dispeller of All Obstacles. These two works give an introduction to the preliminary trainings, outline the primary elements of visualization practice and mantra recitation, and supply a detailed explanation of the practice of Padmasambhava's wisdom aspect, Guru Vadisimha. Through practical step-by-step instructions on this deity, the reader is guided into the general world of tantric practice common to all of Tibetan Buddhism.

by Shechen Gyaltsap, Kunkyen Tenpe Nyima and translated by Dharmachakra Translation Committee

Vajra Wisdom presents the commentaries of two great nineteenth-century Nyingma masters that guide practitioners engaged in development stage practice through a series of straightforward instructions. The rarity of this kind of material in English makes it indispensable for practitioners and scholars alike.

Shechen Gyaltsap's work is entitled Illuminating the Jeweled Mirror and is a general guidebook for development stage practitioners of any particular yidam deity. In that way it serves the purpose of tying together the features of all sādhanas, thus highlighting their universal functions and meaning.

*The hardcover is out of print but the paperback edition will be released in 2022

The Great Medicine That Conquers Clinging to the Notion of Reality
by Shechen Rabjam and Shechen Gyaltsap IV

The basis of this book is Shechen Gyalstap's work of the same name that is a concise, profound, and elegant elucidation of the relative and absolute bodhichitta, or “enlightened mind.”

In his warm and informal style, Rabjam Rinpoche shines a light on these teachings in a way that will appeal to anyone who would like to find more meaning in life. His commentary is fresh, humorous, and sharply insightful. Here is a modern Tibetan teacher who appreciates the challenges of living in today’s world. The Great Medicine will help contemporary readers draw on ancient teachings to find their way to wisdom, freedom, and joy amid the struggles of real life.

Zurchungpa's Testament
by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and Shechen Gyaltsap and translated by Padmakara Translation Group

Zurchungpa’s Eighty Chapters of Personal Advice is the distillation of a lifetime’s experience and practical instructions from a master who truly embodied the teachings of the Great Perfection. Organized into eighty chapters covering the entire path of Dzogchen, this book contains a complete detailed teaching on Zurchungpa’s text by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, based on Shechen Gyaltsap’s notes. Originally intended as essential instructions for a group of practitioners in three-year retreat, it will undoubtedly serve as an indispensable guide to anyone who seriously wishes to practice the Great Perfection.

Watch scholar and translator Stephen Gethin of Padmakara Translation Group discuss Zurchungpa's Testament.

Other Books Related to Shechen Gyaltsap

In talking about the inseparability of emptiness and compassion, emptiness is not a common sort of emptiness, like a house without people in it, nor is it the emptiness found through logical examination. It transcends these.

-Shechen Gyaltsap, from The Ri-me Philosophy of Jamgon Kongtrul the Great

The Ri-me Philosophy of Jamgon Kongtrul the Great: A Study of the Buddhist Lineages of Tibet

by Ringu Tulku and translated by Ann Helm

Along with many scholars and practitioners of the 19th and 20th century, Shechen Gyaltsap spoke of the importance of upholding lineage while remaining respectful of other Buddhist traditions. Ringu Tulku includes Shechen Gyaltsap's extraordinary Refutation of the Criticism of the Dzogchen Teachings  along with a number of Nyingma rebuttals and a detailed history of the various Buddhist schools of Tibet.

Brilliant Moon: The Autobiography of Dilgo Khyentse

by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Rabjam Rinpoche, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, and Many More

Through lively anecdotes and stories this highly revered Buddhist meditation master and scholar tells about his life of study, retreat, and teaching. The formative events of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche’s life, and those insights and experiences that caused him to mature into the warm, brilliant, and highly realized meditation master and teacher he was, are deeply inspiring.

Stories of Shechen Gyaltsap abound.

The second half of the book comprises recollections by his wife; his grandson, Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche; Tenga Rinpoche; the Queen Mother of Bhutan; and many prominent teachers.

Journey to Enlightenment: The Life of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

by Matthieu Ricard

An inspiring portrait of one of the great spiritual leaders of the twentieth century, this book follows Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche in his travels to Tibet, Bhutan, India, and Nepal, revisiting important places from his past.  The book recounts many stories of his root teacher, Shechen Gyaltsap.

More from Shechen Gyaltsap's Lineage

While not by or on Shechen Gyaltsap, the books below are from the same traditions he is associated and are complementary to his works.

On Ngondro in the Nyingma Tradition

On the Nyingma Path

Three Words That Strike the Vital Point is the famous seminal statement by Garap Dorje that is said to encapsulate all the myriad dzogchen tantras. The key instructions on it by Patrul Rinpoche—the verses known as “The Special Teaching of Khepa Shri Gyalpo”—form the basis for the discourse in Primordial Purity. It explains that in dzogchen, when one has fully recognized that all the confusion of samsara is the expressive power of great emptiness, confusion is spontaneously liberated into the primordial purity of mind’s essential nature. Compassion spontaneously arises, accomplishing the benefit of sentient beings. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche illuminates this beautifully in this profound work, which will inspire students of Buddhism and deepen their experiential appreciation of the teachings.

The Nature of Mind
The Dzogchen Instructions of Aro Yeshe Jungne
by Patrul Rinpoche, Khenpo Palden Sherab, and Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal

The Nature of Mind: The Dzogchen Instructions of Aro Yeshe Jungne is a commentary on a fascinating text by Patrul Rinpoche by the Khenpo brothers Palden Sherab and Tsewang Dongyal. It is centered around a translation of Patrul Rinpoche's Clear Elucidation of True Nature: An Esoteric Instruction on the Sublime Approach of Ati.  This text Patrul put together to encapsulate all the teachings from the Aro tradition in a single short text. It is a pithy guide to discovering the nature of your own mind and gives explicit instructions on how to do so for those of us of superior, middling, and lesser capabilities. It is superb.

Finding Rest in Illusion
The Trilogy of Rest, Volume 3
By Longchenpa and translated by Padmakara Translation Group

This, the third volume of the Trilogy of Rest, introduces us to our most basic nature—the clear and pristine awareness that is the nature of the mind. The Padmakara Translation Group has provided us with a clear and fluid new translation of the final volume, Finding Rest in Illusion, along with its autocommentary, The Chariot of Excellence, which describes in detail the conduct of those who have stabilized their recognition of the nature of the mind and how to apply the Buddhist view when relating to ordinary appearances. This is an invaluable manual for any genuine student of Buddhism who wishes to truly find rest through the path of the Great Perfection.

Another superb translation of the root text of Patrul Rinpoche's  The Practice of the View, Meditation, and Action, Called “The Sublime Heart Jewel”, The Speech Virtuous in the Beginning, Middle, and End is included in Thinley Norbu Rinpoche's collection of translations entitled Sunlight Speech That Dispels the Darkness of Doubt. This text presents advice to practitioners on the path to enlightenment, which is all contained in the three aspects of the correct view, meditation, and action, synthesized in the practice of the Six-Syllable Mantra of Avalokiteshvara.

Dzogchen
Heart Essence of the Great Perfection
by His Holiness the Dalai Lama

While his Holiness is the head of the Gelug school, here he teaches on an important text of the Nyingma school--Patrul Rinpoche's commentary to Garab Dorje's famous Three Words That Strike the Vital Point, also using other texts such as Longchenpa's Cho Ying Dzod, or Treasury of Dharmadhatu.

Beyond the Ordinary Mind, an extraordinary collection of profound advice on Dzogchen from many great masters, compiled and translated Adam Pearcey, the force behind Lotsawa House. The piece by Patrul Rinpoche is called Uniting Outer and Inner Solitude: Advice for Alak Dongak Gyatso.

Deity, Mantra, and Wisdom

This collection contains four of the most cher­ished Tibetan Buddhist commentaries on the practices of visualization, mantra recitation, and meditative absorption— elements that form the core of development stage meditation, one of the most important practices of Buddhist Tantra.

One of the most important sadhana cycles in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism, the Rigdzin Düpa, or Gathering of Vidyadharas, is practiced by tens of thousands of practitioners around the world. This inner guru practice focuses on Padmasambhava as the central figure and is one of the three root sadhanas of the Longchen Nyingtik treasure cycle revealed by the great Jigme Lingpa.

Thinley Norbu Rinpoche also quotes this at length in Sole Panacea: A Brief Commentary on the Seven-Line Prayer to Guru Rinpoche That Cures the Suffering of the Sickness of Karma and Defilement.

Additional Resources

lotswa houseThe Life of Shechen Gyaltsap by Alak Zenkar Rinpoche can be found at Lotsawa House along with other texts related to him.

BDRCAnd for Tibetan readers, TBRC/BDRC of course provides downloadable pdfs of Shechen Gyaltsab's works in Tibetan

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Chanting the Names of Manjushri: A Reader's Guide

The Litany of the Names of Manjushri or Chanting the Names of Manjusri (’jam dpal mtshan brjod; Skt. Manjushrinamasamghiti) and also referred to as The King of All Tantras and Net of Magical Manifestation of Manjushri, is an extremely important tantric text, relied on by all the schools of Tibetan Buddhism. In particular it is connected with the Hevajra, Guhyagarbha, and Kalachakra tantras.

It was first translated into Tibetan by Rinchen Zangpo, but soon thereafter was revised and commented on. Jamgon Kongtrul mentions  Smritijnana, an Indian scholar who traveled to eastern Tibet where he taught extensively, helped in the translation of the new tantras, and wrote commentaries such as his commentary on Chanting the Names of Manjushri (Manjushrinamasamgiti). Some believe that after his death [Smritijnana] reincarnated in Tibet as the renowned Rongzom Mahapandita and subsequently Dudjom Lingpa and Dudjom Rinpoche.

It comprises 169 (in some editions) stanzas and begins with Vajrapani asking the Buddha Shakyamuni to explain the "chanting of the names" which has profound meaning. There are various levels of this, but one meaning of the"names" is the deities of the mandala.

Manjuvajra, the tantric form of Manjushri. This statue, which appears in The Art of Buddhism, is believed to be related to he Chanting the Names of Manjushri and comes from the tantric Bengal region in the Pala Dynasty.

Chanting the Names of Manjushri in English.

There are several straight translations that are easy to find online.

The most comprehensive commentary in English is included in the great 19th century Dzogchen yogi Choying Tobden Dorje's The Complete Nyingma Tradtion: The Essential Tantras of Mahayoga, Volumes 15-17.

As the translator, the late Gyurme Dorje, explains, Choying Tobden Dorje draws the interlinear commentary

specifically from the treatise of Candragomin, which is entitled Extensive Commentary on the Sublime Litany of the Names of Mañjuśrī. This commentary, which Candragomin is said to have received in a vision from Avalokiteśvara, is contained in the yogatantra section of the Derge Tengyur and in the yoganiruttara section of the Peking Tengyur ....The criteria on which the classification of the Litany of the Names of Mañjuśrī as Yogatantra or Yoga–niruttaratantra are based have been briefly noted in Davidson 1981,and Wayman 1983. Those same translators of the root verses have opted to follow commentarial sources other than Candragomin. Wayman, for example, bases his annotations largely on the treatises of Narendrakīrti, Candrabhadrakīrti, and Smṛtijñānakīrti, while Davidson utilizes the commentaries of Prahevajra, the prolific Mañjuśrīmitra , Vilāsavajra , and Vimalamitra, which have primacy within the Nyingma tradition. However, Choying Tobden Dorje and indeed Candragomin both acknowledge that the vajrapada of the root tantra lend themselves to multiple levels of interpretation. Those familiar with the earlier published translations and editions of the root tantra will note that, according to Candragomin, the core eulogies of the text are addressed to Mañjuśrī in the second person.

Another translation, dated but still of interest, with comments from a Tibetlogist is by Alex Wayman, Chanting the Names of Manjushri.

Some History

In The Ri-me Philosophy of Jamgon Kongtrul the Great:A Study of the Buddhist Lineages of Tibet Ringu Tulku details some of the history and classification of this tantra.

The third class among the Father tantras is the Ignorance class, and its primary text is the tantra of the Manjushri Namasamgiti, or Chanting the Names of Manjushri. This text is the “Net of Meditations” chapter from the large tantra, the Manjushri Net of Magical Display in Sixteen Thousand Stanzas. This tantra is explained in different ways. For example, the bodhisattva kings of Shambhala explain it according to the Kalachakra Tantra, Lalitavajra explains it as a Father tantra of Anuttarayoga, and the bodhisattvas Manjushrikirti and Manjushrimitra explain it according to Yoga Tantra. In Tibet it is sometimes explained according to Atiyoga, and in India it is sometimes explained according to Madhyamaka. Around the year 1000, Lochen Rinchen Zangpo translated Chanting the Names of Manjushri into Tibetan. Later on, several translators revised the translation. Panchen Smritijnana gave the complete teaching of this tantra, including the empowerment, tantra, and pith instructions, to Kyi Jema Lungpa, who transmitted it to Ngogtön Chöku Dorje. This teaching lineage accords with the Yoga Tantra. Marpa Chökyi Lodrö received this teaching according to the Anuttarayoga Tantra from Maitripa. Marpa’s lineage of the empowerment and reading transmission still exists today, as does the teaching lineage that began with Panchen Smritijnana.

There are many different translations of Chanting the Names of Manjushri, but there are not many different meanings. The only difference is the wording, “the empty essence—one hundred letters” according to the Yoga Tantra, and “the empty essence—six letters” according to the Anuttarayoga Tantra.

It is said that if one gains confidence in this king of tantras, then one will gain confidence in all the Anuttarayoga tantras. And if one does not understand the meaning of this tantra, then one does not understand the meaning of Anuttarayoga altogether. It says in the Stainless Light:

In order to free all beings from doubt, the Tathagata collected Chanting the Names of Manjushri from all the Mantrayana teachings and taught it to Vajrapani. Whoever does not know Chanting the Names of Manjushri does not know the wisdom body of Vajradhara. Whoever does not know the wisdom body of Vajradhara does not understand the Mantrayana. Whoever does not understand the Mantrayana remains in samsara, separated from the path of the conqueror Vajradhara.

Further on Ringu Tulku relates that the "Sarma tantras are held in common by both the Early and New Translation traditions. Not only did the Nyingmapas spread the Sarma tantras through explanation and practice, but they never criticized them. Also, the Nyingmapas have held the teaching lineages of Chanting the Names of Manjushri and the Kalachakra Tantra with particular respect."

Chanting the Names of Manjusri in the Life of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

To demonstrate the centrality of this text for those in the Nyingma tradition, we do not have to look much further than Brilliant Moon: The Autobiography of Dilgo Khyentse where this texts come up repeatedly.

[Shechen] Gyaltsap Rinpoche was in the process of establishing a monastic school at Shechen, and on one astrologically favorable day, he said they should hold the opening ceremony. For a few days Khyentse Chökyi Lodro gave elaborate teachings based on a commentary written by Khyentse Wangpo on Chanting the Names of Manjushri, and together with Shechen Kongtrül, Gontoe Chöktrul, Gyaltsap Rinpoche’s nephew Khenchen Lodro Rabsel, and Khenpo Phakang, it was attended by all the participants of the Treasury of Spiritual Instructions. Later they all became unrivaled practitioners of sutra, tantra, and science, endowed with learning, discipline, and goodness.

and later:

From Lama Rigzin Tekchok, I received Mipham Rinpoche’s exegesis of the Novice Aphorisms, as well as Dodup Tenpai Nyima’s guidance on Chanting the Names of Manjushri.

And another instance:

Next I went to Dzongsar to study with the omniscient Jamgön Chökyi Lodro. He gave the long-life empowerment of the rediscovered treasure Combined Sadhana of the Three Roots, the explanation of the Condensed Perfection of Wisdom based on Mipham Rinpoche’s commentary, the great pandita Vimalamitra’s commentary on Chanting the Names of Manjushri, Hevajra according to the Sakya tradition, the major empowerment of the Khon tradition, and the major empowerment of the protector Gur.

Brilliant Moon also includes reminiscences from other masters who mention this text.

Rabjam RinpocheRabjam Rinpoche relates, "

Until Khyentse Rinpoche passed away, I used to do my morning and evening prayers with him. In the morning we did Chanting the Names of Manjushri and in the evening we did the protector chants. So I learnt most of them by heart, but there were maybe a hundred points where I made mistakes. When I chanted them by heart in front of Rinpoche, he knew exactly where I would make mistakes, and just before reaching the passage where I was about to go wrong, he would raise his voice to guide me to say it right. Later Rinpoche wrote all the sentences where I made mistakes in a small notebook—he had actually memorized all the mistakes I made!

Also, Trulshik Rinpoche wrote,

The daily ceremonies include morning and evening prayers according to the Mindroling tradition, starting with refuge, bodhichitta, the seven-branch offering, and the renewal of the two bodhisattva vows, followed by the reading of the Guhyagarbha Tantra and the Magical Net of Vajrasattva, one different chapter every day. Then there is the reading of Chanting the Names of Manjushri, the Epitome Sutra, and the Prayer of Excellent Conduct, which were spoken by the Buddha himself.

Jamgön Kongtrul Rinpoche on This Text
Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye

Jamgön Kongtrul mentions the text multiple times in the ten-volume Treasury of Knowledge.

In Volume 8, Book 3, in the section on "The Completion Phase in Father and Mother Tantras", he describes the text in this way:

To the family of delusion tantras, of those translated into Tibetan, belongs Chanting the Names of Manjushri. This is considered a delusion tantra because it teaches methods to purify delusion and is intended to treat persons whose strongest affliction is delusion.

The translators of this volume, Elio Guarisco and Ingrid McLeod include the following note:

This work, the first in the tantric section of the Dergé Kangyur, forms a class of its own. One set of commentaries explains it in terms of the system of highest yoga tantra; and another set, in terms of that of yoga tantra.

Manjushriyashas, in his Extensive Explanation of Chanting the Names of Manjushri, and Manjushrimitra, in his Commentary on Chanting the Names of Manjushri, expound this tantra from the perspective of yoga tantra, while Lalitavajra, in his Extensive Commentary on Chanting the Names of Manjushri, expounds it from the perspective of highest yoga tantra. The authors of the Commentaries by the Bodhisattvas interpret the Net of Magical Manifestation from the Kalachakra point of view. It has also been treated from the perspective of the central way and from that of the great perfection. Butön and others considered this tantra to be of the class of highest yoga tantra in terms of its nature but explained the sadhana in the format of yoga tantra.

Kongtrul states that, of the highest yoga tantra families of attachment, aversion, and delusion, Chanting the Names of Manjushri belongs to the delusion family. The main deity is usually a male figure without consort, although some sadhanas include a consort. However, there is neither the urging of the molten form of the deity nor the creation of the deities by emanating them from the womb of the consort. Moreover, Chanting the Names of Manjushri describes the ground, path, and result in detail but merely alludes to practices such as release and union. It teaches primarily a nonconceptual form of the phase of creation.

Kongtrul further points out that although some Indian scholars have explained this tantra in terms of yoga tantra, this does not necessarily signify that it is a yoga tantra, just as the fact that Anandagarbha’s expositions of the Guhyasamaja are written in terms of yoga tantra does not prove that the Guhyasamaja tantra belongs to the yoga class. In particular, as indicated in the Indian treatise written by Varabodhi, Mandala Rite of Manjushri: Source of Qualities, the descriptions of the secret initiation and the initiation of pristine awareness through wisdom are teachings on the inner-fi re practices involving four channel-wheels, the liberative path of contemplation of the deity in union, typical of highest yoga tantras. Th is point is explained in Smritishrijnana’s commentary on the Sadhana of the Net of Magical Manifestation of Manjushri. Moreover, the presence within the sadhanas of the Chanting the Names of Manjushri of the four seals and other practices that are the same as those of yoga tantras does not prove that this tantra does not belong to the highest yoga tantra class since such practices are also found in the Chatuhpitha.

Ngoktön Chöku Dorjé (1036-1102) was the holder of two lineages of the Chanting the Names of Manjushri: one transmitted from Marpa, who received the initiation and teachings on the tantra from Maitripa, and the other, from Purang Sherab Dorjé . (Ngoktön received the transmission from Purang before meeting Marpa.) The first of these lineages is exclusively that of the highest yoga tantra; the second lineage (which eventually vanished) was in accordance with yoga tantra. See Kongtrul’s Sadhana of Chanting the Names of Manjushri, Lord of All Tantras, Union of Families: The Blazing Sword of Pristine Awareness.

Chōgyam Trungpa Rinpoche on This Text

A final anecdote comes from Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche's third volume of the Profound Treasury trilogy"

The First Trungpa and Adro Shelu-bum

When Künga Gyaltsen left Trung Ma-se, he visited various places. As he traveled around eastern Tibet, he came to the fort of Adro Shelu-bum, who was the local landowner and local lord. When Künga Gyaltsen arrived, he was repeating a line from a very famous Manjushri text, the Manjushri-nama-sangiti (Chanting the Names of Manjushri). In the text there is a phrase, chökyi gyaltsen lekpar dzuk, which means “Firmly plant the victorious banner of dharma.” So he arrived at the door of Adro Shelu-bum’s castle with that particular verse on his lips, and he repeated that line three times. For that reason, at my principal monastery in Tibet, Surmang Dütsi Tel, we always repeated that same line twice when we chanted the text. And here in the West, that line has been made into one of the main slogans of Naropa University. We have translated it in that context as “We firmly plant the victory banner of dharma.”

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